#10 - BAPTISTE, THE RASCAL

Yarmouth Vanguard, March 7, 1989

This was Pierre Maisonnat, more commonly known, for no apparent
reason, Pierre Baptiste, or Captain Baptiste, or simply and more often Baptiste. He was
born in 1663, in Bergerac, France, some 60 miles east of Bordeaux. He is labelled in
different documents as a soldier, a sailor, a pilot, a ship master, a captain, a
privateer, a buccaneer, a freebooter, a filibuster, a pirate and a rascal.

In today's language, we would add that he was also a
"fourflusher" and a "playboy". He was so cunning and shrewd, so
deceitful at times, even with regard to his identity, that authors have wondered if there
were not in Acadia, at the same time, two Baptistes of about the same age and of the same
calibre. In Boston, he said that he was "not by birth a Subject of ye French
King," but a subject "of the Crown of England and, as a Protestant, was here (in
Boston) received by the French church."

Villebon, Governor of Acadia, had only to know him a couple of days
to say of him that he was "a man of intelligence and enterprise ... a man of great
experience... a man well-spoken of and devoted to the cause of France." Even among
the English his reputation was such that one of their captains, in 1695, was asking
Villebon to meet him, whom he called "a brave man". Daring, nothing seemed to be
too risky for him. Unscrupulous, all means were honest for him. Ambitious, everything
seemed to succeed for him, at least 'til he himself would get caught in his own snares.

We meet him for the first time in May of 1690 at the defense of Port
Royal which was seized by Sir William Phipps, who took to Boston a large number of
prisoners, among whom was Baptiste. But Baptiste managed to get his freedom.

The year after, 1691, he was already cruising the waters of New
England in quest of prizes. Frontenac, Governor of Quebec, was saying in 1693 that he knew
"the coast of Acadia perfectly well, being already very familiar with the waters and
the coasts from Placentia, Newfoundland, to Quebec, from the St. Lawrence River to the Bay
of Fundy, from Port Royal to Minas, the St. John River, the Maine coast, Boston and even
Manhattan. He seemed to have had a house in different places, Port Royal, the Amherst
region, Placentia and Fredericton.

The number of enemy ships that he took from 1691 is countless. In
the first four or five months of 1691, he had already taken eight of them. In 1694, within
three months, he captured 10 of them. He quickly won the esteem and consideration of the
French Governors and Officers. Around the end of 1693, Frontenac sent him to Paris to
negotiate the affairs of Acadia. He came back the following year with a vessel.

His first serious defeat took place in may of 1695 when, entering
Sydney harbour, he ran into an English frigate, which forced him to run his vessel ashore.
But he managed to escape with his crew.

In the Spring of 1697, Villebon sent him on a raid along the New
England coast with the order to destroy English property everywhere. But he was caught and
taken to Boston where he was put in chains. When the other French prisoners were released
six months later, he was detained because he was considered a pirate, charged with treason
and murder. But he managed again to escape, just a few days later.

His liberty, though, was of short duration as he was caught and
brought back to Boston to stand trial. In the meantime, Frontenac wrote to the new
Governor, Earl of Bellemont, saying that "I am persuaded ... that you will no longer
tolerate the detention there (in Boston), in chains, of Capt. Baptiste." A couple of
weeks later, he arrived at Jemseg, on the St. John river, by way of Port Royal. He was
then put in command of six companies of militia organized the previous year, 1697, by the
people with such weapons as were at hand.

The four following years, he kept on molesting vessels from New
England and managed all that time to avoid being captured. In the summer of 1702, he was
taken for a third time to Boston as prisoner. This time, the Governor decided to do away
with him entirely. When the Governor of Acadia heard that he was to be hanged, he sent
words to the governor of Boston that he would retaliate if he was to follow his plans. And
thus Baptiste's life was spared. We are surprised, though, that in 1705 he was still in
close captivity in the fort on Castle Island, just south of Boston.

When during this year came up the question of exchange of prisoners
between Boston and Port Royal, the French governor made it clear that no exchange would
take place unless Baptiste be also released. The governor of Boston answered that Baptiste
is such "a rascal that he does not deserve that you ask for him again" and for
the same reason "he is not worthy for me to keep him any longer ... Therefore, this
matter will be closed." But it will be still a year before Baptiste will be set free.

Thus ended, it would seem, the adventures of Baptiste although his
name is still mentioned a few times in documents. His name appears seemingly for the last
time in 1714, in the census of Beaubassin (Chignecto), where we find him with his
"third" wife.